Patent Infringement Claims Against Taiwan Company Dismissed Where No Evidence of Sales Into Forum State, but Discovery Permitted as to Marketing Activities

U.S. Ethernet Innovations, LLC v. Acer, Inc., et al., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113551 (N.D. Cal Aug. 7. 2013)

Plaintiff U.S. Ethernet Innovations sued a variety of technology companies for patent infringement, including Acer, Apple, Hewlett Packard, Sony, and others, and then moved for leave to assert additional claims against Third Party Defendants, including Silicon Integrated Systems Corporation (Taiwan) (SIS-TW), which subsequently moved to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. Although SIS-TW had assumed sales activities in the United States from an affiliated, but separate, U.S. entity, the Court held there was insufficient evidence that SIS-TW had directed activities to California, specifically, or had made sales in California. The Court did grant plaintiffs’ request to pursue jurisdictional discovery to uncover evidence of California sales in light of SIS-TW’s admission that it had taken over U.S. sales operations.

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